Method and system for inserting user defined comfort signal

ABSTRACT

During communication over the network, periods of silence may exist. During these periods, the system may enable a user at a user terminal to define characteristics of a comfort signal. The system may monitor transmission to detect periods of silence. The system may adapt the monitored transmission by adding the defined comfort signal during the periods of silence, as background noise, or during periods of silence and as background noise.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A wide variety of means exist for communication between users. For example, a user may conduct phone calls via their home phone, work phone, and mobile phone. In addition, a user may also communicate via the Internet and other peer-to-peer models.

As technology improves, the performance of the communication network improves. Unfortunately, significant improvement in performance may cause user perception of system malfunctioning or a lack of functioning. For example, if the system is underutilized due to a long pause from a speaker, if there are impairments in the channels, or if there are recoverable or short duration faults in the network, communication between users may include long durations of intermittent silence during a conversation. During these periods of silence, the user may not be able to determine if the communication network is still functioning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system environment for implementing exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computerized system environment for a network terminal, consistent with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary comfort center, consistent with an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary time flow of a video messaging process, consistent with an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the same numbers in different drawings represent similar elements unless otherwise represented. The implementations set forth in the following description of exemplary embodiments consistent with the present invention do not represent all implementations consistent with the claimed invention. Instead, they are merely examples of systems and methods consistent with aspects related to the invention as recited in the appended claims.

Methods and systems implementing the exemplary embodiments described herein provide comfort signal generation. A comfort signal is anything that is preferable to silence. Examples of a comfort signal can be noise, tone, or music generation, etc. During communication over the network, periods of silence may exist. During these periods, the system may enable a user at a user terminal to define characteristics of a comfort signal to be played during periods of silence, in the background, or during both periods of silence and in the background. The system may monitor transmission to detect periods of silence. The system may adapt the monitored transmission by adding the defined comfort signal.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data processing and telecommunications environment, in accordance with methods and systems consistent with the principles of the present invention. The data processing and telecommunications environment 100 may include a network 110 and one or more user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150. The one or more terminals may be implemented using voice-over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) technology 120 or a peer-to-peer model, such as Skype 130. The one or more terminals may also be implemented using a wireline phone 140 or a mobile phone 150 to interface with network 110. Although phones 140 and 150 are shown directly connected to network 110, any number of intervening elements, such as a Private Branch Exchange (“PBX”), may be interposed between phones 140 and 150.

Network 110 may be one or more communication networks that communicate information between network terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150. Network 110 may be any type of network for communicating information, including data, text, pictures, and video. Network 110 may be a shared, public, private, client-server, or peer-to-peer network encompassing a wide or local area including an extranet, an Intranet, the Internet, a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the public switched telephone network (PSTN), integrated services digital network (ISDN), radio links, wireless telephone and/or data network, and any other form of wired or wireless communication networks. Network 110 may be compatible with any type of communication protocol used by the components of the system environment to exchange information, such as Ethernet, ATM, SONET, Transmission Control/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), the various wireless communication protocols (e.g., GSM, CDMA, EV-DO), or a peer-to-peer protocol. The network provider may be, for instance, an Internet Service Provider (ISP), a wired and/or wireless telephone service provider, a cable television provider, a satellite television provider, a WAN operator, a LAN operator, or an operator of a direct-link/person-to-person network. In addition, network 110 may be implemented using both PSTN and VoIP technology consistent with the principles of the present invention.

Telecommunications environment 100 may also include comfort center 300, depicted in FIG. 3. Comfort center 300 may provide a platform for managing the addition of a comfort signal over network 110. Comfort center 300 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, comfort center 300 may be implemented using a plurality of general purpose computers or servers coupled by a network (not shown). Comfort center 300 may be located, for example, on one or more of user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150, and may also be located within the network 110.

User terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 may be configured to communicate with comfort center 300. For example, a client application may be installed on user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150, which directly communicates with comfort center 300. Also, user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 may communicate with comfort center 300 via a proxy. User terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 may use aspects of TCP/IP including the hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTP”), the user datagram protocol (“UDP”), the file transfer protocol (“FTP”), the hypertext markup language (“HTML”), and the extensible markup language (“XML”).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram exemplifying aspects of user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150. The exemplary user terminal 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 may include controller 210, input device 220, and output device 230. Controller 210 may be one or more processing devices that execute computer instructions and data stored in one or more memory devices. Controller 210 may include, for example, central processing unit (CPU) 212 and memory unit 214.

Input device 220 provides the input to CPU 212. Input device 220 may include, for example, a keyboard, a microphone, and a mouse. Other types of input devices may also be implemented consistent with the principles of the present invention.

Output device 230 may include, for example, a display, a printer, and a speaker. Other types of output devices may also be implemented consistent with the principles of the present invention.

CPU 212 may be any controller such as an off-the-shelf microprocessor (e.g., INTEL PENTIUM) or an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) specifically adapted for user terminal 200. Memory unit 214 may be one or more memory devices that store data and computer instructions that, when executed by CPU 212, cause the terminal 200 to perform the methods described herein. Memory unit 214 may be embodied with a variety of components of subsystems, including a random access memory (“RAM”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”).

If comfort center 300 is located within network 110, a network interface (not shown) provides a communications interface between user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 and comfort center 300. The network interface may receive and transmit communications from user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150. For example, the network interface may be a modem, or a local area network (“LAN”) port.

During communication, voice is transmitted as packets of bytes. These packets may be transmitted via RTP (IETF RFC 1889) streams. When no voice is present during a communication, there is a silence or packets without the sound of voices. This silence or packets without the sound may also occur, for example, if the system is underutilized or if there are impairments in the channels. If the user does not want these periods of silence transmitted, the user may define a type of comfort signal to be added in place of the silence. The user may also choose how the comfort signal should be added by determining, for example, the length, pattern, and intensity of the comfort signal.

Comfort center 300 may present the user with a list of comfort signal choices that the user terminal may select. Comfort center 300 may also receive a desired comfort signal from user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 via input device 220. For example, the user may add white (i.e. Gaussian) noise or colored noise during these periods. This comfort signal may have frequencies within an audible range, which may be between approximately 330 Hz and 3.4 KHz, that may vary periodically in amplitude.

The comfort signal fills the bytes and packets of silence. The comfort signal may be generated using at least one byte of data. Each of the bytes of data contains eight bits, which may specify the type of comfort signal to be added (also referred to as the color of the noise). By using at least one byte, the user may be presented with many types of comfort signals. If the user has selected a type of comfort signal to be added, user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 and comfort center 300 may monitor the packet transmission at the endpoint and comfort center 300 may add the selected comfort signal to the transmission at the endpoint during, for example, periods of silence suppression.

The configuration or relationship of components illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is exemplary. For example, input device 220 and output device 230 may be a plurality of independent devices within separate housings detachably connected to a generic controller, such as a personal computer or set-top box. In other implementations, controller 210, input device 220, and output device 230 may be integrated within a single housing such as a mobile telephone. One of ordinary skill in the art may select different configurations of components based on the requirements of a particular implementation of a user terminal giving consideration to factors including, but not limited to, cost, size, speed, form factor, capacity, portability, power consumption and reliability.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram exemplifying aspects of comfort center 300. Comfort center 300 may be located, for example, on one or more of user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150, and may also be located within the network 110.

Comfort center 300 may include controller 310. Controller 310 may be one or more processing devices that execute computer instructions and data stored in one or more memory devices. Controller 310 may include, for example, CPU 320 and memory units 330 and 340. CPU 320 that may be any controller such as an off-the-shelf microprocessor (e.g., INTEL PENTIUM) or an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) specifically adapted for comfort center 300.

Memory units 330 and 340 may be embodied with a variety of components of subsystems, including a random access memory (“RAM”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”). Memory unit 330 may contain a database of comfort signal options that may be presented to the user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150. User terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 may select a type of comfort signal from the database. User terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 may also input a desired comfort signal that is not part of the list of comfort signal options. If the user inputs a desired comfort signal that is not part of the database, memory unit 340 may store the user input comfort signal.

Once memory units 330 and 340 store the desired comfort signal from user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150, CPU 320 may also monitor the packet transmission characteristics and insert the desired comfort signal during, for example, periods of silence. CPU 320 may insert the desired comfort signal as background noise, and may also insert the desired comfort signal during periods of silence and as background noise. In other implementations, memory units 330 and 340 may be integrated within a single memory unit. One of ordinary skill in the art may select different configurations of components based on the requirements of a particular implementation of a user terminal giving consideration to factors including, but not limited to, cost, size, speed, form factor, capacity, portability, power consumption and reliability.

FIG. 4 contains a sequence diagram 400 exemplifying the interaction of users with the exemplary systems and methods described herein. At step 410, a user may activate a silence suppression at the user terminal (i.e. terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150) to suppress packets during, for example, periods of silence. If the user has decided to activate a silence suppression during communication, user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 may communicate with comfort center 300. Comfort center 300 may present the user with a list of comfort signal choices that the user terminal may select. Comfort center 300 may also receive a desired comfort signal from user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 via input device 220. The comfort signal may be white or colored noise and may have frequencies within an audible range, which may be between approximately 330 Hz and 3.4 KHz, that may vary periodically in amplitude.

At step 420, the user may define the characteristics of the comfort signal to be added. The characteristics may include the length, pattern, and intensity of the comfort signal. Once the user has defined the type of comfort signal to be added, user terminals 120, 130, 140, and 150 and comfort center 300 may monitor the packet transmission characteristics at step 430. During, for example, periods of silence, comfort center 300 may adaptively insert the defined comfort signal at step 440.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. For example, comfort signal generation may be used in any electromechanical apparatus to indicate that certain actions are occurring (i.e. opening a window or putting a vehicle in reverse). It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. 

1. A method comprising: activating, based on a user selection, silence suppression for a transmission over a communications network; receiving, from a user, a selection of a type of comfort signal to be added to the transmission, the comfort signal having a frequency between approximately 330 Hz and 3.4 KHz representing a specific noise color defined by a combination of eight bits of data; receiving, from the user, definitions of characteristics of the comfort signal to be added to the transmission, the characteristics including a length, pattern, and intensity of the comfort signal; monitoring the transmission to detect packets of silence; and adapting the transmission by adding the comfort signal to the transmission as background noise, during periods of silence, or during periods of silence and as background noise, the added comfort signal being modified according to the user defined characteristics of the comfort signal.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring occurs at an endpoint of the transmission.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information packets are transmitted via RTP streams.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the comfort signal is white noise.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the comfort signal is colored noise.
 6. A system comprising: a network providing telephony services; a calling device, coupled to the network, configured to interface a user with the network; and a comfort center coupled to either the calling device or the network, wherein the comfort center and calling device enable the user to: activate, based on a user selection, silence suppression for a transmission over a communications network; receive, from the user, a selection of a type of comfort signal to be added to the transmission, the comfort signal having a frequency between approximately 330 Hz and 3.4 KHz representing a specific noise color defined by a combination of eight bits of data; receive, from the user, definitions of characteristics of the comfort signal to be added to the transmission, the characteristics including a length, pattern, and intensity of the comfort signal; monitor the transmission to detect packets of silence; and adapt the transmission by adding the comfort signal to the transmission during periods of silence, as background noise, or during periods of silence and as background noise, the added comfort signal being modified according to the user defined characteristics of the comfort signal.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein monitoring occurs at an endpoint of the transmission.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the information packets are transmitted via RTP streams.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the comfort signal is white noise.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the comfort signal is colored noise.
 11. The system of claim 6, wherein the network is operable to perform Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). 